The Fourth Branch: Coming to An Administration and A Classroom Near You

For those of you wondering what Economics 240, The Political Economy of Regulation is all about, it’s about stuff like this.

With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities…. Any president has vast authority to influence policy even without legislation, through executive orders, agency rule-making and administrative fiat.

Legislation gets all the attention, and regulation does all the dirty work.

In Econ 240, we will study “the fourth branch of government” (a.k.a., administrative agencies), including the continuing evolution and growth of the U.S. regulatory system, the process by which regulations are proposed, written, implemented, and enforced, and the tools used to evaluate the costs and benefits of regulations.

It’s designated writing intensive, and I couldn’t be more excited. See you in there.